The Issue Identification and Improvement (I³ - pronounced "I Cube") diagnostic is a unique, effective tool that exposes the hidden issues in an organization that aren’t typically identified through standard surveys or questionnaires. These hidden issues influence both employee and organizational performance, with significant impact on employee attitudes, behavior and productivity. The I³ System is a three-part process that includes:

1. A comprehensive organizational diagnosis
2. A detailed roadmap for improvement
3. A quarterly measurement process

While the system is most effective when implemented in its entirety, it can be applied as individual components to supplement an organization's existing organizational improvement efforts.

Why Use the I³ Diagnostic? The I³ process has produced many success stories, including:

• Reducing new hire turnover rates from 55% to 4%
• $1 million in training savings within the first year of implementation
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Sharp reduction in equipment "down time" through improved maintenance schedules
• Awards and recognition, including the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Organizational Diagnostic The diagnostic component of the I³ system starts with two simple questions:

• "What things make work harder?"
• "What things make work easier?"

Open-ended questions allow employees at all levels to identify issues that they believe affect performance. Anonymous responses ensure candor. Employees are clustered according to work shift, position, job type and other groupings so that responses can be analyzed and compared to identify issues that may affect one group more than another. Client participants range from executives to physicians to machine operators and maintenance workers.

The I³ collects data in two ways:

• Data Input Groups -- A focus group setting under the direction of a skilled facilitator. Responses to questions are sorted, ranked and entered into a proprietary database for comprehensive analysis and comparison.
• The I³ Assessment – A database developed from more than a half-million employee I³ comments culled from 10 years of responses. Employees respond to a series of statements with multiple-choice answers and an opportunity to provide additional, open-ended comments and reactions. Each statement reflects an issue within the organization that affects employee performance.

Performance Improvement Component The I³ Roadmap identifies opportunities for organizational improvement based on three levels of issues identified through diagnostics.

1. Global issues that may affect operations but are beyond the organization’s short-term control. Typically, these issues require significant change or substantial investment, limiting management's ability to make meaningful changes quickly.  These decisions and the rationale behind them must be communicated to the workforce to help employees understand key business issues and the competing demands on an organization’s resources.
2. Unit-level issues that may be addressed by one group without affecting other departments or areas of the organization.
3. Operational issues most effectively addressed on a unit-wide basis, including issues related to equipment, systems and procedures, and staffing.

Through facilitated planning meetings, leaders develop action plans to address the highest priority issues, with careful attention paid to implementing the plans through each level of management. Implementation may include:

• Fastrack Teams tasked with quickly resolving specific problems
• New and revised policies and procedures
• Communications initiatives
• Compensation reviews
• Training and development
• Performance management plans

Progress Measurement Component Many performance systems measure success by repeating surveys at defined intervals to look for improvements. A more effective approach allows leaders to measure progress with greater speed and more accuracy, allowing them to identify those initiatives that succeed, and change course where they fail. The I³ process provides for quarterly progress evaluations to gauge performance improvement.

Costs The I³ Diagnostic is priced according to the number of participants and groups. A fixed fee process, there are no hidden or unanticipated costs.